Ikemba Speaks

Don’t drink soda, it’s not good for you. Don’t eat starchy foods, you will add weight. Don’t drink beer, you will have a pot-belly. Don’t…Don’t…Don’t. The list is endless. The truth is that, whether you like it or not, at some point in your life, due to no fault of yours, and notwithstanding how strict you are with your diet, you will add weight, and you may have some health issues, which may either be treatable or just manageable. The key is to enjoy all classes of food in moderation.  Eat breakfast as early as you can, and eat enough to get you far along the day.  Whatever you drink, wine, soda, beer, or spirit, consume moderately.  Ensure you also exercise at every opportunity. Just walk around at every chance. The only thing that you definitely should not take at all from a health perspective is cigarettes. All the tasty, yummy and delicious food available were made for our enjoyment.  It would be sad to work ...

We have seen it so many times in movies and in reality. A man telling his complaining wife and children that he is working his socks off for them. A couple leaving home very early, sometimes before the kids are awake, and returning late, sometimes too, much after the kids have gone to bed. While it is true that you spend the bulk of our time alive actively working, it is also true that you most likely would spend almost about the same length of time if you are lucky, living in near-inactivity after retirement, usually post-60 years old. The measure of happiness, satisfaction, fulfilment and peace you would enjoy with your immediate family during that retirement period would very much be a function of how much time you invested in them. The glowing career may give you enough money today, awards, recognition, fame and satisfaction today, but it would be a memory tomorrow, and a source of regret if it is done at the expense of precious family time, building memor...

It really is sad when someone else is in charge of your happiness. For many people, different things are responsible for their happiness. For some, it is their job or boss. For others, it is their spouse.  For yet oth ers, it is their societal standing or social equity. The problem with all of these things is that they are usually not within your control. Jobs come and go, or you leave them if the circumstances are no longer ideal. Spouses always have personal aspirations too, which you may not be able to influence. Society and social equity are fickle. You cannot control it. To be truly happy, in and out of season, it is best that one lives a principle – centred life. This principle thus becomes the constant that holds everything together. Your principles are your guiding compass. They moderate your actions, your worldview, your perceptions, as well as how you respond to how your career pans out, how your spouse evolves, how your societal perce...

Self-preservation indeed is the primary law of life. But self-preservation and selfishness is not the same thing. Selfishness is thinking only about you.  A selfish partner never thinks about the relationship, that partner only thinks about himself or herself. A selfish employee would constantly focus on how activities and events in and outside the company add value first to himself or herself before thinking of the organization he or she is supposed to be mindful of. The problem with selfishness is that it is difficult to mask.  Therefore, a selfish person is easily identified and avoided. When you are avoided, your opportunities begin to dwindle, and so does your chance of succeeding in career and life.

Yesterday, getting access to the internet was a nightmare. Consequently, I was unable to post No.19.  But I'm back. So, today, I would share both No. 19 and No. 20 of my series tagged: 31 THINGS YOU WOULD ABSOLUTELY REGRET DOING TO YOUR CAREER AND LIFE. Please enjoy.  Our true character as humans is usually revealed when we have money and when we have power. What we fail to remember, however, is that both money and power are transient. Nobody is ever MD or GM or Director or Boss for life! It is important to remember that nobody dropped on the top. Everybody grew to the top, and therefore was once a subordinate, a junior, a recruit or an intern. When you use your power or office to oppress anybody, you are setting yourself up for karma and disappointment in the future, because what goes around comes around. The oppressed too would rise. Your reign will end. And the table would turn. What you would get when your career has run its course, or ho...

Are you dependable? Can you be depended upon to come through, come what may? This is not about how much money you have, or what and who you know. It is about standing and counting for something every time. Can you be trusted to say what you mean and mean what you say every single time? This attribute alone may distinguish you from everybody in your organization, your circle of friends, and in your family. It is easier to only do things that are convenient It takes a lot to be very dependable, because sacrifices have to be made, but at the end it always pays off.

Jobs are temporary. Most colleagues, line managers and subordinates are temporary, and more often than not, are very competitive. Jobs, colleagues, line managers and subordinates are more often than not, after the value they can get from you. Jobs want you to add to their bottom line, which is why you were engaged in the first place. Colleagues want to ensure that they are at least at par with you from a remuneration, position and recognition point of view. Line managers want you to make them shine. Subordinates want to learn from you, and eventually compete for your role. But friends, true friends, only want to see you shine, see you succeed, see you achieve potential, and do not mind being inconvenienced to help you when you need moral, financial, emotional and physical support.  True friends may be doing better or worse off than you, but it is irrelevant to them. They are just happy to be your friend.  When the hurly burly is done, and...